I hate and love tournaments here in Shanghai. I love it because it’s a way to challenge us and to face new teams that we don’t see during the league. I hate because it’s not following the rules we have throughout the season. While during regular season we play a 70 minutes match (two 35 minutes halves), during SISAC and ACAMIS we play a 44 minutes matches. This forces us to adapt our gameplay for sure. At least it’s not only us but the whole league.

It was a beautiful and scary sunny day this Saturday. As a carioca (born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), I LOVED it. On the other hand, most of my players, specially the Americans, hated it! Too hot. I remember playing football at the beach, under a unmerciful sun shinning 37 degrees. It was either that or not play football and this is unacceptable to me. 🙂 Anyway, this Saturday the temperature was reaching 25-27 degrees. the hottest day of the season. The hottest day we played throughout the league had the temperature of 11-13 degrees and now we had to play three matches under that bright golden sun.

After finding a shade (not shadow, ok?) to leave our stuff, we watched a bit the match of SCIS Pudong versus BISS Puxi which was surprising well balanced. When we left to warm up, was still 0 x 0 (SCIS Pudong ended winning by 2 x 0).

MATCH #1  – Vs SAS Pudong

Playing on a grass field has it perks. The ball does not roll that easy and bounces much more, being tricky to trap it and control it. SAS started pressuring us and we had a hard time to get adapted to the field. I think the ball never spent so much time around our goal area during the league than this game. We had our first good chance at the 3rd minute at a corner kick. Marta shot without too much strength and it went on the left side of the goal. Again, at the 7th minute Marta had another good chance after a crossed pass from Louise. The ball was bouncing and Marta got it underneath it, sending it way above the goal.

What was driving me insane what how long their goalie was taking to put the ball back in the game. It was taking precious minutes. For example, after Marta’s shot, took her more than a minute. If she had to take that long for every goal kick, half of the game time would be wasted. Luckily we have in our supporting staff Doug “The Ball Fetcher” Gribble. Mr. Gribble started helping us to get the balls that were shot away so the game would be faster restarted.

From that moment on we kept the ball on the attacking zone. SAS was defending with all their players so it was hard to find a spot to shoot. We managed to get another shot, once more with MartaMessi around the 14th minute. One minute later Franziska pushed the ball forward and saw Marta free on the left but the pass was too strong. We kept the pressure but not finishing it and I was starting to get worried. Then at 18:30 my heart stopped; their number 20, from the defensive SAS side passed to the center midfield, Katy tried to pass to Hailey but someone was on her, the girl managed to pass to their number 16, who was behind Katy, totally free. Inês was too far away and Katy started chasing her. Inês was shoulder to shoulder with her so the SAS player pushed the ball forward. She did not counted we have the Swedish Black Spider! Bella did not think twice, she jumped on the player feet and grabbed the ball, no matter what risk it would have. Incredible! Scary also was when Hailey tried to pass but accidentally stepped on it and fell. An instantaneous flashback from ACAMIS last year, when she had a major ankle sprain, came to my mind. Luckily only her pride was slightly bruised. To increase the amount of gray hair I am discovering in my head, at the last minute of the first half our team started giving too much space; Louise was not blocking the middle of the field and their best player, #16 got the ball alone in the midfield and pushed forward. She dribbled Inês and on an amazing recover, Louise sprinted like the wind and was able to protect the ball so Bella could easy hold it.

For the second half we need to pressure more. We saw YCIS with their great team lose to SMIC at the penalty kicks after a 0 x 0 and BISS Pudong, one of the strongest teams on the league, was losing to German school. Losing this first match would be a debacle to our team. The balls were not arriving properly to Marta and we were not shooting enough. While we could not find space to shoot, their #16 was annoying our defensive system with her speed.

Nothing too relevant was happening. We were pressuring desperately and they were trying to pass to their #16 until on the 40th minute (four to end the match) Marta tries to trap a bouncing ball passed by Inês and it hits a defender’s arm, on the edge of the box, facing the goal. Free kick. I had in the field very good shooters like Louise, Marta and Inês. I don’t know why something told me that I had to choose Inês. She knows how to put some spin on the ball and also for the fact she speaks Portuguese, it was easier to give last-minute instructions. What I know is that our Versatile Portuguese saved the day! She put at the  left side where the goalie was not present. IT was a bit a mistake of the goalie because she was almost behind her wall. Suh-Young also with a ballet move distracted the player who could deflect the ball. The team celebrated so much! It was incredible!

Of course, after the goal with three minutes to go, we decided to slow down the game. I subbed the hero Inês by Franziska to give more physicality to the game. Suh-Young fought so much for a ball on the left side of the field and found a great pass to Marta but the ball ran a little too much and Marta was not able to shoot it before the goalie getting it. I also put Phoebe on the left wing with the only job of defending. Both teams being tired, we were a bit better organised and managed to hold the score. 1 x 0 and now one hour to rest for the Semi-Finals.

Goals: Inês
MVP of the match: Inês

MATCH # 2 – Vs German School

It was really surprising to face German School at the semi-finals. We were expecting, of course, to face our traditional rivals BISS Pudong.Their team is very good, they were playing at home and they are as experienced as we are. I haven’t watch their game but this was a reality check for us. If we had a fairly uneventful match against the German school here, we now should be ready to face a different “monster”.  Another motivation we had was the fact that the last match we lost was exactly against them, last year’s SISAC final match. This showed to be a great motivation.

What scared me the most was that Bella seemed a bit distracted in the match. With less than one minute, the German top player, former Platinum Blonde, shot a very weak shot that almost passed between Bella’s legs but like a cat, she recovered and got the ball before it actually got into the goal. Almost gave me a heart attack.

Luckily we counter-attacked one minute later. MartaMessi, alone face to face with the goalie, tried to dribble her but the ball went to far and she lost an incredible chance of scoring but knowing Marta, she never gives up so she kept fighting for the ball, recovered and delivered a bomb that hit the crossbar.

For the first time in the tournament we used our lethal weapon; the plays between MartaMessi and our Glass Head Girl Kyra. Inês throws in to Marta on the right, she dribbles one or two defenders and pass to Kyra on the second post who just pushes inside the net. We did it so much during the regular season that it became a trademark. 1 x 0 at 4:30 minutes.

We were playing so much better this match! Franziska had some great shots also from the right and the German goalie saved it. Marta served Louise an amazing ball also around the 12th minute but Louise’s shot was not the strongest one and once more the German goalie saved.

On the 14th minute Suh-Young recovers the ball on our defensive system and passes it Marta on the midfield line. She dribble two, is chased by three Germans, has the cold blood to drible the goalie and score the goal. Beautiful! 2 x 0 SCIS.

With this score and under the midday sun, I decided to start a fast rotation, to allow both everybody to play and also to rest all the players as much as possible. We slowed down, of course and the other adrenaline moment of the half was around the 20th, when their #8, their best player, once more shot at our goal, this time an arch shot from far and the ball hit bot the crossbar and the side post. Bella was definitely in a blessed day. All goalies besides being good, needs to have a bit of luck and for sure today was Bella’s day.

Second half I rested the “elders” and had Inês as center midfield while Hailey was the striker with Phoebe as the right wing and the Kyra on the left. Defending was our Gymnast Defender and our Defensive Rock. The Germans were giving us good space. I guess they were suffering as much as us due to the sun. They pressured us but not offering any risk and the match went on much like this. The riskier moment was when there were 3 minutes to end and a player pushed forward and shot from the right a powerful shot but this time our Swedish black (in this case, grey) spider defended with not much trouble. Right after it, it was our time to test their goalie once more, with Franziska shooting a cannonball from the right of the field, forcing the German goalie to do a good save. End of match and we are in the finals!

Goals:  Marta, Kyra
Assists: Marta
MVP of the match: Marta

MATCH # 3 – Vs SCIS Pudong

We only lost a match throughout the whole season between league and friendly matches and it was against SCIS Pudong during Dragons Cup so it was not a better time to have a rematch. Neutral field, finals of a tournament and we were ready to show that we recovered and we were finally ready to be SISAC Tournament Champions. For two years we reached the finals but lost it, first against Suzhou in 2011 and last year against German School. It was time to change this and we were ready for the battle.

They have a great team who also knows how to pass well and they have a great athlete, their #10. On our side we had a major problem. Our top scorer was in pain. MartaMessi was feeling an extremely uncomfortable pain on her right hamstring, limiting her deadly sprints. Also I could see that the heat was taking it’s toll on our team and everybody was tired. Anyway, there was not much I could do about the heat but what I could to as a coach was to organize the team the best way possible to optimise our skill set. I was clear to the girls during the talking before the match that it is our year. I call them BELLATORUM INVICTUM for a reason and it was up to them to show me I was right.

We started the match with Bella, Inês and Katy. Suh-Young, Louise and Kyra and Franziska as a striker. I wanted to rest Marta as much as possible and only use her when the other team would be slower due to tiredness so she did not have to sprint that much. It was full speed and we have the first major scary moment at 1:30 minutes; fighting for a ball with #10, Katy got the air knocked out of her. I know how painful it is so I had to sub her right away. Greta got in and did a great job, considering the importance of this match.

We kept pressuring with Franziska, Kyra and Louise, alternating good shots in the beginning of the match. On the 8th minute they had a great chance in front of our box but our defenders timely blocked their two consecutive shots. With Katy back in the pitch, her job was to keep an eye at their #10. She is super fast and skilful but seems to have a bit of an attitude. Before when she clashed with Katy, she did not apologised and around the 15th minute when fighting for a ball with Katy again and carrying it with her hand, she literally spun around and shout at the referee.

Then something started to annoy me incredibly. Their coaches were walking all the side lines length, including standing and passing my bench. Besides that, their team was all standing up at the sidelines. I know I am very picky about the rules but this is unacceptable  The players standing can be extremely distracting to our team, since if you glance to one side, you are not sure who is bench or who is playing and an adversary coach standing in front of our bench does not allow me to give instructions to my team. This caused a heated argument between me and one of their coaches which unfortunately did not allow me to see Marta’s goal. Luckily this team has Chris Tse, our amazing (and patient) cinematographer so I can tell you from the video. On the 15:30th minute Kyra passed the ball on the left to Marta, she dribbled one while moving towards the goal and with a touch that seemed as simple as stealing a lollipop from a baby, she gently pushed the ball between the goalie and the left bar.

After our goal, Pudong seemed to feel it and slowed down for a bit, allowing a couple of good counter-attacks but it did not result in a goal. With 5 minutes to end the first half, all I asked the girls was to pay most attention to their #10. She is their playmaker and also lethal if she gets the ball facing the goal.

I started the second half keeping Suh-Young on the left and Hailey on the right. I needed speed on the wings since the #10 was falling on both sides of the field and we had to be ready to cover it up. On the 3rd minute of the second half they had the best chance of the game. Their #5 was alone, in front of Bella. To our luck, she was not able to trap it correctly and Bella, like a black panther, jumped toward her feet to avoid a possible shot. Incredible!

We had also an incredible chance on the 27th minute during a corner-kick. Like always Louise got it and now she found Marta. With her back to the goal, she simply flicked it back and the ball went millimetres from the left post. It was incredible. Almost right after that, I took Marta out to rest her and have her back on the last 5 minutes of the match so she could keep the ball in our offensive side by the end of the match. The battle between #10 and Katy was non-stop and neither seemed to be willing to give up. with 12 minutes to end the match, Franziska got a ball on the defensive side and pushed it forward by herself until when trying to shoot, she hit more the ground than the ball which hurt her ankle so I had to pull her out. With 5 minutes to end the match, on round twenty-something of the battle Katy Vs #10, she pulled #10’s shirt. With the freekick, they almost score a goal, shooting above the crossbar. We really need to be careful with this for ACAMIS, to avoid a similar situation.

With 3 minutes and a half to end the match, Marta went back in. One minute late, Inês had a beautiful pass to Marta, she trapped and she opened to her right leg, like she normally does but when she was going to shoot, one of SCIS defenders slightly touched the ball so Marta kicked air, with her injured leg stretching too much. I could see the pain in her face. At the same play, Pudong organized a counter-attack guess with whom? #10 but Katy was there. In a shoulder-to-shoulder situation, #10 went to the ground and Katy, like only her would do it, stopped to run and offered a hand to #10 to stand up. #10 not only refused the hand but stood up and ran to get the ball, that was still in play (the referee did not call anything on this), Katy went towards the same ball and #10 pushed Katy from her back completely intentionally. Besides that what was driving me insane was the fact I was calling the referee of the top of my lungs to sub Marta and he was not listening to me. She could not even walk anymore. We still had a good chance with Franziska (yes, was not so serious the injury, thanks god!) passing to Hailey on the last minute.

Game over. Hongqiao Champions! It’s a tournament that nobody in this team ever won before. We showed a certain level of skills (still below of our normal set) but a lot of courage and heart. We are a solid team, with one goal in our minds, the triple crown. Girls, let’s enjoy the great international dinner tonight and celebrate. Monday, we start to prepare for our last challenge: ACAMIS. We can do it and let’s do justice to our motto: BELLATORUM INVICTUM!

Goals: Marta
MVP of the match:
Just a quick note here. Of course the whole team deserves credit when we conquer something so important as a tournament but some players exceeds what is expected from them. My Defensive Rock Katy was a lioness defending during this tournament. She was barely substituted even with the inclement heat and she never gave up. She can be pushed around, have the wind knocked out of her but she will always rise to the next challenge, ready to protect Bella and pass to our midfielders. The team will miss you a lot next year. Katy, you are rock solid! Be ready for the ACAMIS Challenge! 😉